Shock absorber



E. W. JOHNSON SHOCK ABSORBER Filed Feb.' 9. 1948 INve/ITOR Mlm www

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www wvw mmm QN @w www Patented Nov. 29, 1949 IUNITE-l) STATES '12,489,783 rATsNT orrlcs SHOCK ABSORBERV Ernest William Johnson, Birmingham, England,

assigner to bandervell Products Limited, =Lon don, England, a British company Application Februanyzg, 1948, Serial No. 7;(150 In Great Britain Januar-ym, 1947 section l1, Public Lawteo, August s, 1946 objects to provide Ysuitable relief for pressures developing in the shock Aabsorber while ensuring that there shall "not be leakage such as will undesirably relieve =the pressures. Another vob ject of the invention is to kprovide a simple and compact contruction and arrangement of certain of the parts'of the shock absorber.

rlille invention is concerned with doubleact ing shock absorbers of the vtype in which a restricted passage for the flow in both 'directions of damping fluid lbetween two fluid containers, at the opposite ends of the shock absorber, is provided between the vopposed vsurfaces Yor a metering rod Yand a 'bore into which Vthe rod reaches, and in which a by-pass for Ythe said restricted passage is provided through the nterior of the metering rod, travel of the duid through which by-pass to relieve the pressure set up by the flow of .fluid through the said re stricted passage in both directions `vis controlled by two valves nested together `and appropriated one to each direction of travel of the .uid through the said restrictedpassageand both operated by the pressure of the fluid. The nested valves are located in-oneof the fluid containers and pressure .developed in the other fluid container .is transmitted to the valves through the said by-pass. this manner is ,described in United States Patent No. 2,450,731.

.According to the primary feature of the inlvention, there is provided a shock absorber of of each oi the nested valves, one of the interengaging :surfaces of the valve andthe seat against which it `,closes is-.conical and vthe other is a rounded corner to engage the conical surface. This ormationof the .interengaging surfaces will faeilitateclose seating and small pieces of grit or the like will be unlikely to become caught between the interengaging surfaces and cause seepage. The amount of rounding of the corners should be as little as possible and need not ce more than the-removalof 'abutting edge. It is preierred to make the valves and the seats of hardened steel.

ln'a preferred arrangement, the nested valves are carried inan end cap for one of the iiuid containers ofthe shock absorber with the outer of the vtwo uvalves farranged to .close against a seat presented by the meteringrod. Theimetering rod may terminate short of the nested valves and carry a -tubular extension which provides the seat against which the fouter valve closes.

IGonvenientl-y, the innerof the nested `valves vis 'oi `mushroom formation'withits stem located axially in the outer Valve and its head arranged Ashockfabsorber constructed in to close against a seat provided by the outer 'valve In -some :circumstances it Vis advantageous vto arrange that the aforesaid `tubular extension 5 on the metering rod Vprovides a one-way bleed passagebetween .the two fluid "containersof the shook .absorber to relieve .minor accumulations oi ypressure inone-of the .fluid containers such as are :insufficient 4to-open the appropriate one .of ithe nested valves.

For -a more complete understanding of Athe invention, there vwill now A'be described, by-way of Yexample only Jand lwith reference to the accompanying drawing, Aone Y'construction lof shock absorber `according to the invention. It is to rbe understood, however, that the invention is 'not restricted 'to -the precise constructiona'l details set forth.

in this drawing, the single ligure is a secltional -view of the shock absorber.

`It will 'be seen that this construction 'follows the same general lines as that `shown in Figure '-1 Yof the' .drawings of UnitedStates 'Patent No. 2,450,731, mentioned above, and comprises a C). a casing i5 W1th an upstandlng `centre barrel I6 having a cover plate 'VL At the sides there are lugs I8 wherebythe .casing .ismountedinplace and the barrel 'i6 .provides bearings fora rock shaft V21| which ,is connected to .one of the vparts to 'be .controlled by the shock absorber. The casing .i5 .has `iiuid containers l.28 and 29 in which are pistons 3i) `and 3i which are received .onasleeve-. The outer ends of thercylinders i( 5 ,2:8 ,and 29 ,have endcaps .4t and ydi into vthe end the type above described, in which, in respect cap .lil of Which:a metering-rod 94 is screwed. The .metering -rod .94 reaches right through the linterior-of .thefsleeve 32 and therestricted passage through which ,the vdamping .fluid passes 40 betweenthe'cylinderszZS-and 29 liesbetween the opposed surfacesof-the-sleeve 32 and the meter- .ing rod .94. The `barrel i6 constitutes a re- `cuperator chamber `from which there is made ,p'anyloss of damping .iiuid fromthe two cylin- A ers.

In use, it will be appreciated that the-.fluid .will beforoedifrom the :cylinder ...281130 thecylinder 29 and vice versa along the restricted passage .between .theLsle'eve '32 andthe meteringrodll as :the rock lshaft oscillates.

.fAt .the right hand end of `the metering rod 9T, .as `seeniinthe.drawing,=.there are lateral conduits `2H!! .establishing communication between the interior oftheY cylinder '9 andthe interior of the frodf, which constitutes a by-pass for the res'tricted 'passage 'between the sleeve '132 and Irodfls'll.

The reference numerals tlius-i-ar'employed are asin United States Patent No. 2,450,731.

#' `ln=-carrying-out thepresent'invention, the bore 200 of the end cap 40 is enlarged, and this cap has a still larger tubular extension 20| which reaches into the cylinder 28 to screw on to the outside of a tubular extension 202 which is brazed on to the outside of the end of the metering rod 94, the latter being shorter than as shown in United States Patent No. 2,450,731.

The nested valves 203 and 204 according to the present invention are received in the bore 200 in the end cap 40 so as to lie axially opposite to the metering rod, the ends of the valves reaching into the bore of the tubular extension 202'. The outer valve 203 has at one end a conical surface 205, converging towards the metering rod, and this conical surface closes against the slightly y rounded inner edge 20B of the extremity of the extension 202, being urged in this direction by a coiled compression spring 201 located between the other end 208 of the valve 203 and the inner end face of the end cap 40.

The inner valve 204 lies with its head immediately opposite to, but clear of, the aforesaid bypass in the metering rod. The head is coned at 209 in the opposite direction to the cone 205 on the valve 203, and the stem 2I0 reaches axially right through a bore in the valve 2'03 and has a collar 2H on its extremity, between which and the opposed end 208 of the outer valve a coiled compression spring 2l2 is located. This spring 2|2, and the collar 2H against which it presses, are situated inside the spring 201 controlling the outer valve 203. Their effect is to urge the conical face 209 on the head of the inner valve 204 to close against the slightly rounded edge at the end of the bore in the outer valve 203. In some circumstances the spring 22 controlling the inner valve may be weaker than the spring 2'01 controlling the outer valve, but both springs should be strong enough to withstand pressures of several hundred pounds per square inch in the damping iiuid without permitting the valves to open.

The extension 20| on the end cap 40 is radially perforated at 2I3 to establish communication between the cylinder 28 and the interior of the extension 20| around the outer valve 203, and more or less midway of its length the outer valve 203 has on its outer surface a groove 2l4 from the base of which radial passages 2|5 extend to an enlarged part 2l6 of the bore of the outer valve, i. e. around the stem of the inner valve. The presence of the groove 2 I4 enables the radial passages 2 |5 to be quite short, thus avoiding surging. The enlarged part 2I6 of the bore extends between the inner ends of the radial passages 2|5 and the end of the bore against which the inner valve 204 closes so that damping fluid in the cylinder 28 can exert pressure on the head of the inner valve 204 to open it. As the enlargement is annular, a steady pressure may be maintained. To vary the flow, interchangeable outer valves with annular enlargements of different diameters may be provided.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that excess pressure in the cylinder 2'8 can open the inner valve 204 to allow the iiuid to flow through the by-pass in the metering rod 94 to the cylinder 29, whereas excess pressure in the cylinder 29, exerted through the by-pass in the metering rod, can open the outer valve 203 to allow fluid to flow to the cylinder 28. When the outer valve 203 opens, the inner valve 204 moves with it, remaining closed.

In some circumstances it may be advantageous to provide a one-way bleed passage to relieve 4 minor accumulations of pressure in one cylinder. For instance, this one-way passage may be arranged to permit minor upward movements of the wheels of a motor car relatively to the body thereof to occur more easily than the return movements of the wheels. Similarly the strength of the springs for the nested valves may be so correlated as to permit major upward movements of the wheels to occur more easily than the return movements. The aforesaid bleed passage may be formed in the extension 202 on the metering rod 94 and, as shown, consistsof a radial passage 2| 'I opening at its inner end into the bore of the said extension, the passage being enlarged at 2|8 beyond its inner end to constitute a seat;

for a ball valve 219. The outer end of the radial passage 2H, 2| 8 leads into a longitudinal borein the extension 202, which bore loosely houses a split pin 220, one end of which overlies the ball valve 2I9 to prevent undue displacement thereof and the other end of which reaches into the interior of the cylinder 28 to facilitate removal when necessary. Thus iiuid under pressure in the cylinder 29 can pass through the by-pass in the metering rod and bleed around the split pin 220 into the cylinder 28, by-passing the restricted passage around the metering rod, even though the pressure is not high enough to open the outer of the nested valves.

It is to be understood that restricted to the set forth.

I claim:

In a double-acting shock absorber in which fluid friction is employed for damping, comprising two iiuid containers at the opposite ends of the shock absorber, a piston reciprocable in said containers, a hollow metering rod which reaches through a perforation so situated in the interior of the shock absorber that the opposed surfaces of the perforation and metering rod provide between them a restricted passage connecting the said fluid containers, through which passage the iiuid is forced by the said piston, and the interior of which metering rod constitutes a bypass for the said restricted passage to relieve the pressure set up by the flow of fluid through the said restricted passage in both directions, the metering rod beingr formed with lateral conduits extending through its wall from the interior to the exterior of said rod at a portion located in the other of the fluid containers so that pressure developed in the latter iiuid container is transmitted through the said by-pass, the combination of two valves, nested together, to control the travel of the iiuid and appropriated one to each direction of travel of the iiuid and both operated by the pressure of the fluid, seats against which said valves close, one of the interengaging surfaces of each valve and its seat being conical and the other a rounded corner to engage the conical surface, and spring means tending to close said valves against their seats.

the invention is not precise constructional details ERNEST WILLIAM JOHNSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,331,782 Johnson Oct. 12, 1943 2,358,714 Johnson Sept. 19, 1944 

